Ch.371Chapter 371 – Saint Platina (1)

I had vaguely considered the possibility.

That Somnus would realize we would find this laboratory.

‘But I didn’t think he’d appear so quickly.’

Naturally, we hadn’t spread the news about coming here everywhere.

We had only mentioned the necessity among those involved.

As such, our visit here was essentially a surprise attack.

So despite the possibility, I thought we would finish our business before Somnus noticed.

Yet Somnus appeared before us with complete composure.

“How are you here?”

I aimed my weapon at Somnus.

And Somnus, still wearing that cold smile, spoke.

“More importantly, would you care to tell me what you’re looking for here? Though I have some idea.”

“I asked you a question first.”

“I am the master of this place.”

After saying that, Somnus quietly clasped his hands and continued.

“Ah, pardon me. What I mean is that this is a laboratory I’ve been using in secret, so I’m the owner. Since I’ve already equipped it with all the facilities, it would be a waste not to use it.”

“Secret…?”

“Yes, secret. Well, no one would criticize me for using this place… Come to think of it, besides myself, only you and Lady Idea remember this place, correct?”

I found myself frowning at Somnus’s words.

This facility couldn’t possibly be known only to me, Idea, and Somnus.

There were also the priests who created me, Eina, and the other Red Knights.

Somnus answered without waiting for my question.

“I’ve cleared out the rest.”

“You silenced them.”

“Unnecessary things must be discarded.”

Somnus said.

“I merely discarded what needed to be discarded. Do you grow attached even to garbage? I don’t see what the problem is.”

Somnus spoke as if genuinely puzzled.

As I glared at him silently.

Things started getting noisy behind me, and soon Eve and the others began rushing in.

“Kay!”

Eve ran in with great urgency.

And then Beatrice poked her head in.

“I came running as soon as I got the signal from the nun! Helmet, are you okay…?”

I had noticed Chris doing something with her hand behind her back earlier—apparently she had some kind of signaling device.

However, Beatrice stopped speaking as soon as she spotted Somnus.

Her face, which had softened recently, instantly contorted.

Sia stepped forward, restraining Beatrice with her hand.

“We meet again. Unpleasant one.”

“…How unfortunate to see something unpleasant again.”

This time, Somnus erased even his smiling expression.

But he soon seemed to regain his composure and clasped his hands again.

“Well, meeting again like this must be fate. Shall I offer you some tea?”

Somnus spoke in a nonchalant tone.

Kara shouted at him.

“Somnus, I have something to ask you!”

Kara shouted, pointing her stone spear at Somnus.

“What were you making here? What are those things that have faces like mine?!”

Kara demanded an answer.

And Somnus…

He was just looking at me with a calm face.

“I see you’re not interested in tea. I had some good stuff too. What a shame.”

Though he didn’t answer, Somnus drew his own conclusion.

He seemed to have interpreted my momentary silence while Kara was speaking as a rejection.

‘…Is he pretending not to hear?’

Given how he was conversing with us just fine earlier, there was no chance he had suddenly gone deaf.

It seemed he was deliberately ignoring Kara.

“Don’t ignore me, Somnus!”

Kara shouted.

But Somnus showed no reaction.

It was as if he was saying Kara’s voice had no value.

“She’s been calling you. Don’t overdo the ignoring.”

“Ignoring?”

Somnus asked as if he didn’t understand.

He acted genuinely surprised by my words.

“Let me tell you what Kara’s been asking. Why are there people who look exactly like Kara here?”

“Ah, I see. Now I understand what you want to know.”

Somnus said with a smile.

“You’re asking why there are multiple Karas, correct?”

Somnus smiled brightly.

“Isn’t it obvious? Because I cloned her. Using elven technology.”

“…Elven technology?”

“Oh? I thought you already knew. I’m talking about the technology the hero calls ‘cloning.'”

Somnus spoke with a somewhat excited voice.

“Let me explain if you don’t know. Elves have very low birth rates, you see? So they sometimes create copies of themselves to raise as children. That elf who was with you back then was such a case… Pine of the Blue Pine clan, wasn’t it?”

It had been a long time since I’d heard that name.

It was a welcome name, but I didn’t like hearing it from his mouth.

“How do you know about Pine?”

“A question in the middle of my explanation? Were you a good student? To answer, I have my own ways of knowing things. I’m capable of quite a lot, you see.”

Somnus answered lightly.

“Continuing the explanation would bore you. Let me give you a clear answer. The reason I cloned Kara is, simply put, because there are many uses for her.”

Somnus raised a finger as he spoke.

“As you can see with Kara, she possesses a vessel capable of holding so much holy power that the lowly ones would exalt her as a saint. Such a vessel has countless applications. Using her as the face of the order in front of people, deploying her as a soldier to fight the order’s enemies…”

Kara’s expression began to darken.

And Somnus, as if delivering the final blow, said with a smile:

“Or as a living sacrifice, for instance.”

I felt something snap inside me.

A cold voice flowed from my mouth.

“You madman. What do you think human life is?”

“Human life?”

“You just said it yourself. You cloned Kara and used her as a living sacrifice.”

At my calm voice, Somnus briefly tapped his head with his finger as if trying to recall what he had said.

Soon, the old man’s expression brightened as if he remembered.

“…Ah. I see. Since it has a human form, you expressed it as a human life.”

Somnus nodded a few times as if he understood what I meant.

And then.

Looking at me with a very curious face, he said:

“How is that a human?”

“…What?”

I couldn’t help but ask back at the absurd question.

But Somnus, as if uninterested, clasped his hands again and said:

“It looks like a human and is composed of the same elements, but it’s ultimately a clone, isn’t it? Why should I treat what is essentially a consumable item as a human?”

“…You.”

“What strange thinking.”

Somnus looked at me again and asked:

“It’s not human. It’s something I artificially created, made from things harvested from her original—like a doppelganger. How can an object be human?”

“…What part of Kara is an object?”

She clearly has her own will and emotions.

But Somnus tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

“Just as an object is created by a craftsman’s hands, it’s merely a well-made item I created. Let’s be clear about that.”

“Don’t drag me down to your level.”

I answered forcefully to his unpleasant words.

And Somnus, looking displeased, said:

“Drag you down? I’ve elevated you. I’m saying you’re qualified to ‘converse’ with me. You should consider it an honor.”

“Have you ever had a conversation with me? Don’t make me laugh.”

Though he speaks as if wanting a dialogue, he basically just pushes forward with whatever he wants to say one-sidedly.

He was a being with whom conversation was impossible.

‘…Now I understand why he didn’t answer.’

I understood why he responded to me but not to Kara.

From his perspective, there are certain tiers of people worthy of conversation.

And he dismisses all others as if they don’t exist.

That’s why he didn’t even show interest in Kara’s voice.

‘A familiar attitude.’

Looking at Kurs, who was staring blankly at Somnus, too dumbfounded by the conversation to interject, I could think of someone similar to Somnus.

Emiris, who ignored the voices of the faithful and tried to wipe them all out in Ferrarius.

“Ah, there was one inaccuracy. Let me correct it.”

“Not necessary.”

“Earlier, I said I cloned Kara, didn’t I?”

He doesn’t even pretend to listen.

Though he claimed to be having a conversation, he was indeed just a one-way street.

“I said it’s not necessary.”

“One thing I should mention is that I haven’t continuously cloned Kara.”

Somnus said, clasping his hands.

“I used someone else. Someone excellent as a vessel.”

“…That’s.”

“Yes. If a clone can be good enough to become a saint, it’s not hard to guess what the original is, is it?”

Somnus said with a smile.

“The previous saint, Platina. Kara is an object cloned from her.”

The air seemed to freeze.

Though it was actually a very brief moment, it felt like an extremely long silence.

Soon, Beatrice opened her eyes wide and said:

“…Did that crazy bastard just say…?!”

“I said Kara is a clone of the previous saint, Platina.”

Somnus answered calmly.

And then, he said with a smile:

“And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interrupt my conversation anymore, mad dog.”

“You…”

Just as an enraged Beatrice was about to do something.

My body had already reacted.

Silently, I hurled my halberd toward Somnus.

The halberd pierced right through Somnus’s body.

Simultaneously, Somnus turned to sand and disappeared, only to reappear a bit further back from where he had been standing.

“I see you understood well.”

“Why did you clone the previous saint?”

Chris asked in a cold voice.

Perhaps even she, who had been gentle until now, couldn’t comprehend this.

Chris was now angrier than I had ever seen her.

“What do you think human life is! What did she ever do to you…!”

“She betrayed and defied God. I merely gave her the punishment she deserved, false goddess.”

Somnus said with a gentle smile.

“While unnecessary things should be discarded to approach perfection… her abilities themselves were remarkable, so I couldn’t consider them unnecessary. So I decided to use them as long as they were useful.”

“Don’t you feel any remorse toward the family she left behind?”

“Why should I?”

Somnus answered.

“I merely did what I had to do.”

“You…!”

“Stop, Chris. There’s no use talking to him!”

Unable to watch anymore, Sera held Chris back.

But even Sera had lost her usual gentle demeanor and was visibly angry.

Blocking the two of them, Eve stepped forward.

“…I may not have lived that long.”

Eve pointed her sword at Somnus from beside me and said:

“But I think I understand now that some people are better dealt with by beating them up rather than talking.”

“That’s a good point.”

Sia stood next to Eve and aimed her sword.

“I won’t let you escape like last time.”

“How frightening.”

Somnus laughed.

And Beatrice, who had somehow appeared by my side, was glaring at Somnus.

“Beatrice.”

“…I know, Helmet. I’ll let you cut in line this time.”

After answering that, Beatrice looked at me.

“But try to capture him if possible. That bastard probably has what we need in his head.”

“What?”

“…Dimensional travel, or how to stabilize your body.”

Beatrice glared at Somnus.

“Besides my revenge, there’s more to recover from him. So let’s beat him half to death.”

“You mean just kill him?”

If we each beat him half to death, that adds up to killing him once.

At my words, Beatrice grinned fiercely and said:

“That’s not what I meant… but, fine. There might be some loss, but we can still extract information from a corpse.”

“Good.”

No reason to hold back then.

I nodded at Beatrice’s words.

And as if he had been waiting for that, Somnus smiled and said:

“Are you done with your strategy?”

“Yes.”

“What strategy is that?”

Somnus asked calmly.

Following his example, I answered calmly:

“The strategy of ripping your damn mouth off first.”

Taking my words as a signal.

Beatrice, Sia, and I immediately rushed at Somnus.

He was higher up than us, but with Beatrice’s chains and our physical abilities, climbing up was no challenge.

“How frightening.”

After saying that, Somnus used magic to block the attacks from Beatrice, Sia, and me.

“…Truly frightening.”

Somnus smiled and used holy power.

And Chris and Sia shouted in slight surprise.

“Wait…!”

“…You, don’t tell me!”

“Continuing to fight here would indeed be disadvantageous.”

Somnus said quietly.

“Shall we change locations?”

With those words, Somnus threw himself down to the lower level.

Then, after clasping his hands once, he shot a sphere made of magical and holy power toward the floor of the arena.

“It’s collapsing…!”

“This way!”

I saw Eve pointing to a location and running.

And Sera was running while carrying a fallen knight, with Kara and the remaining two knights retreating beyond the range following Eve.

Having seen this while falling, Somnus’s voice was heard from the hole:

“You have good eyes, silver-haired lady.”

Since he spoke while falling, his voice grew fainter.

Beatrice immediately shouted:

“After him!”

At Beatrice’s voice, everyone threw themselves into the hole without hesitation.

Beatrice was using magic to prevent some people from getting hurt by falling, slowly descending, while I landed precisely in the hole.

‘…There’s such a place underground.’

I frowned as I saw a new location I hadn’t noticed when escaping.

And the next moment, applause echoed.

“Welcome. I welcome you to my real laboratory.”

“…Surrender quietly and I might show some leniency.”

I spoke quietly toward Somnus.

But Somnus was just smiling.

“I see no reason to surrender.”

“Then…”

“Before that, here they come.”

As soon as Somnus finished speaking.

-“WOOOOAAARRRRGH!!!”

With a massive battle cry, a giant with blue skin brought down his fist.

So large I had to look up at him.

I deflected the fist with my halberd.

‘…He’s strong.’

Even a glancing blow sent tremendous impact through my halberd.

Thinking I shouldn’t take a direct hit, I looked at the giant.

Then a sword made of holy power flew from behind Somnus.

“Damn it!”

I immediately struck it away with my halberd, but then arrows of light came flying.

At the same time, the giant also began swinging his fists.

Unable to handle both, I had no choice but to create distance.

And I identified the enemy who had launched the attack from afar.

That’s when a chill ran down my spine.

“…A brain?”

It was a brain.

A brain enlarged to human size.

A brain filling a huge box with wheels attached.

Pipes were inserted into the brain, perhaps for some kind of control.

And the brain was pulsating as if alive.

“I told you this is my secret laboratory. I come and go via warp to avoid people’s eyes.”

Somnus said with a smile.

“Surely you don’t think I wouldn’t place at least one guard dog in such a precious place, especially where there are materials that must not be leaked?”

Somnus smiled, pointing to the giant and the enormous brain.

I immediately glared at Somnus.

“…You bastard.”

“Helmet, are you okay…?”

The companions who had been slowly descending arrived.

And they all began to widen their eyes at the sight of the giant brain.

“Good heavens, what on earth is that…?!”

Kurs dropped his weapon, seemingly unable to accept what he was seeing.

Even a trained knight like him appeared to be overwhelmed by an indescribable revulsion.

And Somnus slowly bowed his head and said:

“Then, let me introduce them.”

The giant, who had been standing quietly as if under Somnus’s orders.

Somnus bowed respectfully and pointed to the giant.

“This one is a specimen recycled from someone who passed away before the experiments began in earnest. The name… you may choose as you wish.”

My hand gripping the halberd tightened.

Somnus next pointed to the brain.

“And this one is…”

Somnus smiled.

“The previous saint, Lady Platina.”